Bhubaneswar, Feb. 9: There is some good news for commuters - fare of city buses has dropped by 10 per cent in the wake of reduction in diesel prices. Passengers using smart cards will get an additional 10 per cent off.

Dream Team Shahara (DTS), the operators of the city bus service, today announced its decision to reduce the fare from tomorrow.

The additional discount to smart card holders is to encourage cashless travel.

While the fare of these buses within the city will come down by 10 per cent, the cut will be five per cent for buses plying on long-distance routes such as Badambadi-Master Canteen, Badambadi-Baramunda, Badambadi-Vani Vihar, Master Canteen-Puri, Master Canteen-Khurda and Baramunda-Khurda.

On December 25, DTS had first announced a reduction in price of tickets, but the facility remained confined only to smart card holders.

DTS chairman Nishikanta Mishra said: "Apart from a drop in the ticket prices on all routes, we have also reduced the minimum price of the tickets from Rs 7 to Rs 5. But earlier, while the minimum price was for a distance of 0 to 3km, now it will be for a distance of 0 to 2km."

Mishra said the cut in the minimum ticket price of city buses was to encourage people to travel in these buses in a scenario where autorickshaws were making a killing.

Talking to The Telegraph he said: "Earlier, many passengers did not use these buses because the base ticket price was high. Instead, they took autorickshaws. With the reduction in fuel prices, we have reduced the ticket prices now."

A survey conducted by DTS last month revealed that more than 70 per cent passengers were going for short-distance travel of less than 12km and only 30 per cent are using the 14-30km distance routes. It also showed that short distance travellers were mainly students, youth, middle and lower income groups.

On the need to popularise smart cards, Mishra said more than 42,000 people were using the city bus service every day on 21 routes on which 180 buses run. But till date, only 5,000 odd people have bought smart cards.

Pitambar Parida, a bank employee, who uses city bus service every day, said: "The price reduction is a welcome step and with the focus shifting to smart travel, people will be interested to pay less and use smart cards."

Parida, who takes route No. 405 (Dumduma-VSS Nagar) from Pokhariput to reach Master Canteen city bus depot, has to spend Rs 10 for a single trip. This trip will now cost Rs 9 with a regular ticket and Rs 8 with a smart card.